953 nut 51,940 #1 Posted May 17, 2016 5-17-1965 The FBI Laboratory weighs in on the “dirty” lyrics of “Louie Louie” Based on outcry from parents who bought into what may have started as an idle rumor, the FBI launched a formal investigation in 1964 into the supposedly pornographic lyrics of the song “Louie, Louie.” That investigation finally neared its conclusion on this day in 1965, when the FBI Laboratory declared the lyrics of “Louie Louie” to be officially unintelligible. No one will ever know who started the rumor that “Louie Louie” was dirty. As written by Richard Berry in 1955, the lyrics revolve around a sailor from the Caribbean lamenting to a bartender named Louie about missing his far-away love. As recorded in crummy conditions and in a single take by the Kingsmen in 1963, lyrics like “A fine little girl, she wait for me…” came out sounding like “A phlg mlmrl hlurl, duh vvvr me” Perhaps it was some clever middle-schooler who started the rumor by trying to convince a classmate that those lyrics contained some words that are as unprintable today as they were back in 1963. Whatever the case, the story spread like wildfire, until the United States Department of Justice began receiving letters like the one addressed to Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and dated January 30, 1964. “Who do you turn to when your teen age daughter buys and brings home pornographic or obscene materials being sold…in every City, Village and Record shop in this Nation?” that letter began, before going on to make the specific assertion that the lyrics of “Louie Louie” were “so filthy that I can-not enclose them in this letter.” Over the course of the next two years, the FBI gathered many versions of the putative lyrics to Louie Louie. They interviewed the man who wrote the song and officials of the record label that released the Kingsmen’s smash-hit single. They turned the record over to the audio experts in the FBI laboratory, who played and re-played “Louie Louie” at 78 rpm, 45 rpm, 33 1/3 rpm and even slower speeds in an effort to determine whether it was pornographic and, therefore, whether its sale was a violation of the federal Interstate Transportation of Obscene Material law. “Unintelligible at any speed” was the conclusion the FBI Laboratory relayed to the investigators in charge on this day in 1965, not quite exonerating “Louie Louie,” but also not damning the tune that would go on to become one of the most-covered songs in rock-and-roll history. 6 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lane Ranger 10,520 #2 Posted May 17, 2016 This was in my opinion the greatest driving down the road 70 MPH song ever written! 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
clueless 2,902 #3 Posted May 17, 2016 Still on my road trip play list. Wake me up early, be good to my horses, and teach my children to pray. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tunahead72 2,346 #5 Posted May 17, 2016 7 hours ago, 953 nut said: ... lyrics like “A fine little girl, she wait for me…” came out sounding like “A phlg mlmrl hlurl, duh vvvr me” ... THAT'S funny! I'd never heard the Caribbean sailor story, but it makes as much sense as anything else. I have to believe alcohol was probably involved somewhere in this story. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WHX?? 46,931 #6 Posted May 17, 2016 8 hours ago, 953 nut said: lamenting to a bartender named Louie Well yah Tuna ... 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
953 nut 51,940 #7 Posted May 17, 2016 1 hour ago, tunahead72 said: I have to believe alcohol was probably involved somewhere in this story. perhaps Massive Quantities! 8 hours ago, Lane Ranger said: This was in my opinion the greatest driving down the road 70 MPH song ever written! If only you had worked for the FBI, you could have been paid to listen to it. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KC9KAS 4,741 #8 Posted May 17, 2016 Hard telling how many "tax dollars" were totally wasted on the investigation nonsense! 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
953 nut 51,940 #9 Posted May 17, 2016 33 minutes ago, KC9KAS said: Hard telling how many "tax dollars" were totally wasted on the investigation nonsense! That was nothing compared to today, the bureaucrats have perfected wasting tax dollars to the point of being an art-form. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
